Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Busy day for Colts as Carson Wentz trade becomes official, re-sign Marlon Mack, make an interesting waiver claim, and T.Y. Hilton rumors gain steam

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

On today's episode, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed recap Day 3 of free agency for the Indianapolis Colts. On the official start date of the 2021 NFL league year, the Carson Wentz trade officially going through. GM Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich provided their first public comments on their new starting quarterback.Marlon Mack is back with Indy signing on a 1-year, $2 million deal. What impact will Mack have in the Colts' offense coming off a significant injury?Who is Andrew Brown? The Colts made a waiver claim for the 25-year-old defensive tackle. After diving deeper, Brown fits important traits for Ballard and DC Matt Eberflus.Will T.Y. Hilton and Xavier Rhodes return to the Colts? It seems like it's trending towards that direction, especially with Hilton.Closing out the show, we go over Reich's comments about wanting to add more of a vertical element at tight end. Will that be Zach Ertz or invest an early pick in the draft?All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back to your latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's host is your host, Evan Sattery, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue, all throughout this week to recap week one of NFL free agency from the Colts perspective. Stephen, how are you doing tonight, man, as officially the Carson Wentz tree, after a

month of sitting on it, is officially official now for the Colts. Yeah, Evan, I'm doing good. I'm excited to be on here for the first official day of free agency. And I'm very glad that I and our joking prop bets were on Twitter saying, you know, whether the Colts would make half a move today. I felt good going with the over. So I was excited the Colts acquired three players today, including Carson Wentz. Yeah, let's hit on Carson Wentz first. There's a lot of news to get to.

We have rumors around T.Y. Hilton, Xavier Rhodes, and that cornerback market seems like at this point really drying up. Maybe Rhodes could be well on his way back to Indy. Also, we have Marlon Mack re-signing with the Annapolis Colts, a big one-year deal for the Colts running back. He's going to be backing up Jonathan Taylor, a one-year $2 million deal. And then we'll close, talk about Frank Reich's comments on SiriusXM about the tight end position, how they're really looking for a vertical threat

to the tight end position throughout this offseason where they'll be in free agency or the draft. So Steelers start off here, though, with the Carson Wentz trade officially going down after a month of sitting on it. The Colts agreed last month in mid-February to a deal with the Eagles based around their third round pick this year plus a 2022 conditional pick that's a second rounder, but more likely than that's going to be a first rounder if Wentz plays 70% of the snaps for the Colts next year.

With it now official and the Colts are all tweeting about it on their accounts and we now hear Carson Wentz's new quarterback number, by the way, he's not going to be number 11 for the Colts. He's going to be number two, which I really actually do like the number there aesthetically for Carson Wentz. What's your overall opinion now just with the ink being dry now? We have comments from Chris Byron and Frank Rick. I'll go over here in just a minute.

It seems like the Colts fan base is – I know it was really kind of wishy-washy about a month ago, but I think a lot of Colts fans, when you see the reaction on Twitter today, have kind of sold themselves after sitting a month on Carson Wentz. Yeah, I think the fans are behind it. At this point, you kind of have to be as a Colts fan. If you look at – and Dan Orlovsky, when the Colts had him on – they did a special interview with him after the Carson Wentz trade

was officially official. He talked about how he expects the Colts to get that 2017 to 2019 Carson Wentz and not the one year aberration in 2020. And so he's really excited. You could tell when the trade happened. All the players are really excited about it. You know, you saw recently a picture come out with Carson Wentz out thrown with Desmond Patman and Michael Pittman Jr. And, you know, it's a great – I think overall it's a great fit. I think Carson Wentz could thrive in Indianapolis, not just with Frank Reich in this offense, but with the organization, it's very much, the Colts are a so much better run organization, I think, from top to bottom. And that's something that

Dan Orlovsky pointed out was, you know, there are a couple different things. One of those is the organization and the coach. And very few teams have just that good organizational quality and the Colts are one of those teams so I think you know the fans started to get on board with it you know as the trade really kind of went down I'm excited about it I think that Carson Wentz can really excel I know we picked up a new fan with the Carson Wentz's number two being kind of leaked and announced by Gio, the Philly fan that's a huge Carson Wentz supporter. And so I'm excited about it and all that. So I think the fans are on board now. It makes a lot of sense for the team and it really hopefully solves the quarterback position for the Colts for the next decade.

Yeah, hopefully so. Frank Reich had a lot of conviction behind this move, and here's the quotes from Reich and Bauer that were in the press statement released on Colts.com. I imagine we're going to be hearing from Carson Wentz as well sometime within the next week or so, an official Zoom press conference with Bauer and Reich as well. But Frank Reich said, and I quote,

I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to coach Carson again, and he will be a fantastic addition to this organization. I have the utmost respect for him as a competitor and his integrity as a man. Carson will bring great leadership to our locker room and will be an asset for the Colts both on the field and in our community. And then Chris Bauer added, quote, we're excited to add Carson to our team and know he will contribute to the culture that we've established here. We believe that Carson's relationship with Frank and his

familiarity with our offensive staff made this the right move for our organization. So really, a status quo there from what Reich and Ballard said, but really, you can take away both the quotes there just based off Reich's excitement and also Ballard really betting and saying that Frank and the connections that they're familiar with on the coaching staff, you can throw in Mike Groh and Chris Taylor in that mix as well. It kind of just makes so much sense, especially when you hear behind the scenes like what Adam Kaplan told us on the show about a month or so ago after the Wentz trade happened, that Reich was kind of pounding the tail

behind the scenes for this move to get done. It just seems like from the Wentz perspective and from the Colts perspective, they're really betting on this Wentz-Reich marriage to work. I think it just might. Yeah, I feel really confident in it. Like I mentioned before, I think it's a perfect marriage there with Frank Reich and Carson Wentz. Chris Ballard even said on the interview that was released through Colts.com right after the league year started with Jeffrey Gorman and Laura Overton and Matt Taylor. He mentioned in there talking about when he was at Kansas City, he had scouted Carson Wentz and

how they were really high on him in Kansas City. but then as his price tag really started to go up or his draft stock really started to rise, they realized they weren't going to be able to be in a position to get him. So obviously, a year or two later, they went with Patrick Mahomes, and that worked out really well for them. But I think it's really telling that Chris Ballard was in on Carson Wentz before, even when he was at Kansas City. I think that that really kind of shows to what Chris Ballard and now the Colts thought about Carson Wentz then, and then obviously that's carried over, and there's

been nothing in the past, you know, five years that has made Chris Ballard really sway from that opinion. Obviously, 2020 was a really bad year for Carson Wentz. And I don't think anybody would sit here and tell you otherwise. But if you look at 2017 to 2019, especially 2018 to 2019, Carson Wentz carried that Philadelphia team on his back. And so I think we're going to get probably that Carson Wentz is a lot more similar to what they had in 2017 than what they had in 2020. And if that's the case, the Colts are top two, top three, at worst top four in the AFC.

At that point, you get a home game, and then you can make it into the tournament. Who knows? You might be able to make it to that to that title game make it to Super Bowl um not saying that the Colts are Super Bowl or bust right now I'm just saying that with the quarterback position hopefully taken care of and if Carson Wentz can return to form I can see why this organization and why Frank or Frank Reich and Chris Ballard are really really excited about this acquisition. Real quickly, just on the number aesthetics of Carson Wentz, what's your thoughts on number two for him?

I mean, we obviously saw Eagles fans kind of take it out of context today saying, oh, he's taking a dig at June Hurts by going at his number with number two. But I think it's just as simple as he wore number 20 in high school, Stephen. He also wore 11 throughout his career in college and NFL. One plus one equals two, if you want to say it like that. I mean, that can be an easy concept as to why Wentz did that but I actually like the number I mean I don't think the Colts ever had a starting quarterback or number two before as far as being

the face of the franchise what's your opinion on that number for a Colts quarterback because we haven't seen that in a while we have 18 O'Payne Manning 12 Andrew Luck it's been a while maybe since Jim Harbaugh with number four that we've had a quarterback in single digits yeah I really like quarterbacks in single digits I'm not like big into the number aesthetics um but I know certain parts of Twitter are um specifically certain parts of Colts Twitter are and they were very very excited about it uh they really like the number two. I like the number two. You know, it's a solid number. I think that in terms of it's unique to the Colts franchise, which I think is also important for Wentz to be able to, you know, start his own legacy here.

And I think you're right. I think it's as simple as he wore number 11, he wore number 20, you know, one plus one equals two. And that's, that's kind of where I took it to when I first saw it. I go, oh, okay, that's, that's pretty clever. You're just doing one plus one. That's, that's clever. I like it. In terms of, you know, how he looks in it, that's, I hope he plays well. And obviously, if he plays well, he'll look great in any number. So, I mean, I'm happy for it. And I'm glad he didn't try to go in with number 12 or take another number that was one of those legacy numbers.

I don't know if they'll ever open up any of them. I think 17 was probably a little too soon after Phillip Rivers just left. One was going to be interesting just because you had Pat McAfee for a while, who obviously is beloved in Indianapolis. Two is open. It gives him a chance to make his own legacy, and I think that's important for him. Let's move on now, Stephen, to the biggest signing of the day for the Colts.

We're going to hit on a waiver claim here in a minute. After I did some digging on this guy, he really fits the Chris Bauer mold, but they are bringing back the Indianapolis Colts, our Marlon Mack, on a one-year, $2 million deal. And I have to say, Stephen, I'm fairly surprised by this because I feel like, honestly, the way we saw Jonathan Taylor finish the last half of the season, Naeem Hines kind of coming to his own a little bit finish the last half of the season Naeem Hines kind of coming to his own a little bit in the last half of the season as well I thought to myself

you know what Marlon Mack's probably going to go somewhere else get a bigger contract but maybe it seems like here post Achilles injury the market wasn't so great I've read reports that Mack had offered some other teams as well around the same amount of money just decided to come back to the Colts I think just to read regain his value a little bit in 2022 if he does have a solid year as the one beat uh John Taylor's 1a what's your thoughts on back on a one-year two million dollar deal very cheap contract for the Colts that's not really gonna cause much on the finances for them I think it's a solid move from both sides and it's fully guaranteed according to Josie Anderson a great move by the Colts doing a solid for a guy that popped his Achilles last year.

According to Adam Kaplan, he's heard that Mac's around 80% to 90% healthy from that Achilles injury, so he should be good to go by training camp. I think here, Stephen, having Mac back on a one-year, $2 million deal and having it fully guaranteed is a really awesome move by the organization to guarantee a guy who is a little bit of a risk now because we've never seen running backs come back really fully to be themselves after an Achilles injury but with the way their salary cap was with the uh the locker room press that Marlon Mack was behind the scenes last year for Jonathan Taylor I think it makes a lot of sense for like two million dollars yeah I think it's a great deal for the Colts I think it's a

great deal for Marlon Mack um I think it's a really, I think it's a really cool move by the organization to give Marlon Mack that contract and fully guarantee it. Given the types of season that he had leading up into last year, it just was an unfortunate injury. And honestly, I was a little bit surprised by it based on Chris Ballard's press conferences prior to free agency, specifically back in January. And then again, in February, right around when the combine was, it sounded like Marlon Mack was done here. And so I was surprised when they announced it, but I was really excited for Marlon Mack. I think he deserves this opportunity to rehab. He doesn't go to a new team. He's not learning a new offense. It's really good for him to be able to get an

opportunity to showcase his talents. Again, showcase that he's going to be back. And if you're running back and you want to, you're coming back from an Achilles injury and you want to put yourself in the best place, the best position to show off how you've progressed, what better place than behind arguably one of the top five offensive lines in the NFL? I mean, there's only a couple other teams that may be even close. Arizona right now is just kind of loading up. But outside of that, like outside of like one or two teams that likely already have running back

options, you know, it does, it makes a lot of sense for Marlon Mack to kind of bet on himself here. And I think it's really good of the organization to kind of give him a flyer and let him stay in a familiar system in a familiar area. And I think that he'd be still a great asset to have in that running back room and in the locker room. I have to think, Stephen, I know like we were looking forward to the one-one combo that Frank Rick

talked about heading into this past season with Jonathan Taylor and Marlon Mack, Mack being the 1A, Taylor being the 1B. But now I have to imagine Jonathan Taylor, the way he showcased himself is going to be the bell cow here. You're going to have Naheem Hines as your flex back, coming on third downs and patting situations, and also do some work as well in the running game when need be. But I think Marlon Mack might be taking on that Jordan Wilkins role here.

I know maybe some will want to say Mack deserves some more carries, but, I mean, with the way that Taylor played last year, Stephen, I really think this should be Taylor's show, and he should get at least like 15 to 16 carries per game, with Mack maybe getting around like six or seven per game I feel like the role here I know Colts fans want to see a big role for Marlon Mack but coming off a torn Achilles I think Mack's rule is gonna be pretty limited next year unless he really just goes back to vintage Marlon Mack off an Achilles injury yeah I'll be interested to see like you mentioned before the reports that he was at 80%, 90% recovered from the Achilles injury.

I want to see what his explosiveness is coming back. Obviously, Jonathan Taylor is the bell cow. I don't think that's really a good question at this point. I think Marlon Mack is a really interesting change of pace for the Colts. And I don't even know if it's necessarily a change of pace um just kind of a as a refresher um guy you comes in with some fresh legs that are able to um you know spell Jonathan Taylor for a little bit but you you don't see any drop off in the predictivity if he's able to come back from this injury um and if he's able to do that, he's going to make himself, you know, a running back market itself is pretty suppressed.

But he's going to get himself an opportunity to make some money in 2022. And so I think that Marlon Mack, the offense is really set up well for them to run that two running backs and feel confident about it with Jonathan Taylor being being the number one let's go on to a waiver claim from the Colts their other move from today that many would have said who in the world is this guy and I had the same thought actually when I saw it come across my timeline when I'm like Andrew Brown I'm like who who is this guy so I go ahead and dive deep into it a little bit. And he was a claim from the Houston Texans. He's played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the past.

But the Colts claimed defense tackle Andrew Brown today off waivers. He's going to be a rotational piece on the defensive line this year. He definitely checks the Chris Bauer boxes, Stephen. Only 25 years old, was a fifth-round pick in 2018. So there's some upside there. And you look at his – this is the thing we always talk about with defensive line and really the defense itself is that Bauer values length there.

Cover all inches of the field as possible. And Andrew Brown, according to defense tackle metrics over on mockdraftable.com, 81-1⁄2-inch wingspan in the 90th first percentile, almost 35-inch arms, which is near the 90th percentile, Stephen. So this guy really does fit the mold of hey he could be a a backup one tech a backup three tech even play outside a little bit if you want to this guy makes a lot of sense for the colts as a cheap rotational depth

piece who could really push guys like robert wincer taylor stalwart for a roster spot this upcoming year yeah i think he's going to be a a rotational guy if he's able to make the roster. I think he's a flyer that probably Chris Ballard had his eyes on back in the draft and then hoping that it would work out back in 2018 out of Virginia. And obviously Cincinnati snagged him and then Chris Ballard kind of jumped at the opportunity to go ahead and and claim him I thought it was interesting that the Texans released him the Tuesday before um free agency started I thought that was very Texans um but I think that he's he'll have an opportunity um which is as an NFL player is all you can ask for is the opportunity and the obviously he's still on a rookie deal he just got

claimed so it's not like a big um a big contract um it's pretty low risk uh it's one of those chris ballard things i mean you see the the wingspan you see the the arm length um they're both over in the 83rd 85th percentile respectively for defensive linemen he's a guy that that makes sense fits that that long wingspan those long arms that chris bob really likes in his defensive tackles defensive ends and it just it makes sense like that's that's ultimately what it what it comes down to i think it's a worthy flyer for a guy that's not even going to count against your top 51 salaries for salary calculation purposes. We've been telling you all about Bilt Bar, the best tasting protein bar ever on the market for a while now. Bilt Bar is the amazing low-calorie, low-sugar, high-protein, high-fiber, amazing tasting protein bar with 100% chocolate on all the bars.

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Get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the Locked On Today podcast. Host Peter Bukowski updates you on the latest news in every major sport with the help of our local experts. Follow the Locked On Today podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Really quickly on Andrew Brown because I know we're not really the experts on

this guy just yet. We're going to find out obviously more about him as you dive deep into him and get to know him more around training camp and OTAs. But here's a scouting report from Lance Zerline of NFL.com before the 2018 draft on NFL.com. And here's the quick bio that Zerline wrote on Andrew Brown. Brown has decent NFL and plays as hard as anyone could want, but he doesn't have a resume filled with high-impact plays because of his lack of explosiveness and overall quickness. Brown doesn't have the rush time to stick a defensive end unless he does so in a 3-4 front.

His weight gain up to 296 pounds at the combine shows he understands his living will likely be made as a high-energy interior defender with potential to disrupt. So when I see the words high-energy, Stephen, and I also see plays as hard as anyone could want, that's a Matt Iberclough's guy to a T, too. I mean, he's all, and I also see plays as hard as anyone could want, that's a Matt Iberclues guy to a T, too. I mean, he's all about not loping and playing as hard as possible, and it sounds like he fits that mold.

Yeah, and it's something that Darius Leonard echoed earlier in the offseason where if they're going to bring guys in, they're going to work. And it sounds like that's exactly the type of player that Andrew Brown is. He's going to work, and he's going to give it his all. And that's what you want in a defensive player, especially in a defensive lineman. I think he had like one sack on the year, or in his career in the past like two years or however long.

And it was somewhere where the quarterback fell down coming out of the snap and he was able to get in and do the little tap. But, yeah, he's not going to be that explosive edge rusher. He's not going to be an explosive dude on the inside, but he's got length and he hustles and he works hard. And, you know, in the right system, he might be able to thrive. We all kind of of this isn't a free agent signing so i'm not going to make that necessarily the one-to-one comparison with danico

autry but everybody kind of questioned the colt signing danico autry back in two three years ago and it obviously worked out well at this point i think chris ball Ballard gets the benefit of the doubt, even on his waiver claims. Al-Qadi Mohammed was a waiver claim and obviously has played very, very well for the Colts over the past year or two. And it's the guy that I think the Colts would want to bring back. And so I kind of stick it in the same mold as Chris Ballard has a type. And Andrew Brown really kind of fits that type in terms of what he looks for in terms of length and, and hustle. Let's go on now, Stephen,

to the rumors that are really picking up steam around T.Y. Hilton coming back to the Annapolis Colts here very soon. And I'll start it off with a tweet from Kenny Moore earlier today. And I know the players kind of noticed that beforehand in some situations, I know obviously TY is a leader in that locker room. So he's in contact with a lot of guys, but Kenny Moore tweeted this afternoon, just let me get Marlon Mack back and we good to go with a check Mark emoji. TY Hilton replied right after that.

That's all you want with an eye emoji and a confused face emoji. And then Kenny Moore retweeted and quote tweeted it saying, we already got you back, so eye emoji. So kind of playing detective here, Stephen. And then Paris Campbell about 30 minutes later after that added his two pieces on this with five or six eye emojis, dot, dot, dot, at TYHilton13. Darius Leonard chimed in as well on Twitter. I feel like something's up here, Stephen. I think TYHilton in the next 24 hours could be

resigned to Colts. Yeah, and you're seeing the wider supermarket really kind of peter out in terms of those big contracts. You're not seeing guys get paid those huge dollars, those huge value contracts. You saw you guys are getting signed now. Curtis Samuel is down off the market for like $11.5 million. We talked about Marvin Jones yesterday. AJ Green went to Arizona for $6 million.

You're seeing all these guys start to sign their deals so they get their seat at the table. And I got to feel like T.Y. Hilton's in that same boat where he's starting to kind of get a little antsy. Would you rather take... I think Chris Ballard is going to offer him what market is for T.Y.'s services right, based on what the wider supermarket is. And so if I were T.Y. Hilton, I would take it. And it sounds like, you know,

Kenny Moore and Paris Campbell and Darius Leonard all kind of might have some inside information. And it certainly seemed like, especially after Kenny Moore's tweet that TY was bound to be back and so that's kind of where I look at it is it sounds like TY is going to be back and it sounds like it's probably going to be here within the next 24-48 hours and I think that's a that would be kind of similar to Marlon Mack I think it'd be a great scenario for the Colts I think it'd be a great scenario for TY Hilton ultimately, if he goes by his words, said this in his last contract, to be able to end his career here in Indianapolis.

Yeah, you kind of connect the dots to the wire-seer market. Like you mentioned, A.J. Green signed a one-year $8 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals today. Kenny Galladay, something he's going to go visit New York Giants, and they just want to get physical on him before they sign him, so he's going to be probably more likely not signing the New York Giants. Juju's still out there on the board, Will Fuller, but we saw a lot of tweets from Ian Rappaport and Adam Schefter about Chris Ballard hoarding his cap space for future extensions for guys like Darius Leonard, Braden Smith, Quentin Nelson.

That's why the Colts have been inactive so far. I think, dude, when you connect the dots a little bit just from that standpoint, you're not going to pay big for a Juju Smith-Schuster or Will Fuller. I just think with the way the market is right now, and you see guys like I mentioned, AJ Green for one year, $8 million. Mervyn Jones, $7.25 million per year. Emmanuel Sanders, $6 million per year. Somewhere in that $6 to $8 million a year range, Stephen, I think we're going to get a TY Hilton deal here pretty soon just based off those numbers. When you look at the market right now, I think TY is the most logical fit right now. TY definitely is the most logical fit in terms of price and obviously just the

familiarity. I think what you're going to see is, you know, TY Hilton re-signed and I think you're going to see Chris Ballard look to the draft for wide receiver. We mentioned this, I think, last night where we talked about, you know, wide receiver basically is the new running back in terms of draft, in terms of free agency. The market is flooded with good wide receivers because colleges are putting out guys that know how to run routes, that know how, that are fast, that can catch, that are these freak athletes there at the wide receiver position. And so the market itself is getting flooded. So I think that might be Chris Ballard's ultimate plan is,

he's looking down towards 2022. He knows that's when the big contracts come up. If you look at Forrest Buckner's contract, that's where there's a salary cap dip in 2022 for that cap hit. Same thing with Ryan Kelly. The Colts, Chris Ballard talked about this in one of his press conferences this year. We talked about the Colts basically in terms of how they consider the salary cap. They look at it in three-year increments and slices to make sure that they're compliant, and they're looking about three years out on it. That makes a lot of sense when you look at the resigning of Ryan Kelly and then the contract

for DeForest Buffner is they have those very obvious drop-offs in 2022. So Chris Ballard and the Colts were looking at that year as a year that they know that they're going to need some money. And if that's the case, it makes sense the way that the Colts are operating right now. They don't want to spend too much of that money. They might roll over a bunch of their cap space, which I know will frustrate fans. But Chris Ballard, he's basically giving himself very little margin for error. And what people need to understand is when you invest heavily in free agency, it means you really screwed up in the draft for years. And so that's why, for example, New England invested so much in free agency to start free agency and start the tampering period is because they screwed up in the draft a lot over the past, you know,

four years and they don't have a lot of great, they don't have a great roster. And now the Colts roster isn't perfect, but there's a lot of really quality building blocks. And a lot of those were brought in through the draft. So it just kind of shows, you know, where Chris God thinking,

and it does remove his margin for error. If he's not willing to spend in free agency, it means he has to hit when it comes to the draft. And so he's putting a lot of pressure on himself, but I think that's kind of where the Colts are looking in terms of like 2022 and these roster extensions and paying the guys that they've drafted. So I look at it and say, all right, you know, I don't see them signing a lot of guys outside. I think T.Y. Hilton makes a lot of sense to bring back at a lower cost. I don't see them spending big for Juju Smith-Schuster or Kenny Galladay or, you know, Will Fuller. There's been rumors about him, Bill Colts being possibly interested in him as well. I'm not sure how much weight I'd give that just because it doesn't sound like Chris Ballard.

It just doesn't. He doesn't venture into free agency very often, and when he does, it's not any big contract. And so I think that they'll probably sign T.Y. Hilton for a reasonable amount. He'll end his career here, and I think they're going to attack the wide receiver position in the draft. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football might be over, but NBA, college basketball, and NHL are in full swing. BetOnline even covers awards, TV shows, and reality TV.

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to talk prospects in the upcoming draft and young NFL players fresh in the league. Did your team have a big rookie performance this week, or are they shaming to have a premier draft pick in the 2021 NFL draft? Get everything you need Wednesdays on Locked on NFL. Subscribe to Locked on NFL wherever you get your podcasts. Last few points here before we close out today's show, Stephen. Let's head on the other guy. That's a free agent right now for the Colts.

Internally, I think they want to bring back. Ian Rappaport put out a video when they put back those live news stand-ups they put on their Twitter accounts when they're live on the show. And they're talking about the Colts here, and Rappaport mentioned in his tweet that was a video about, like I mentioned before, Chris Bauer not spending a lot of money, why the Colts are doing this for their future guys like Leonard Nelson and Smith. But also he put in a quick little caveat in there about T.Y. Hilton and Xavier Rhodes. It sounds like, based off Rappaport's wording of how he was saying this,

that the Colts are wanting to bring both those guys back, including Xavier Rhodes. We saw Patrick Peterson sign the Minnesota Vikings today for a one-year $10 million deal. That might be something around the lines of what Xavier Rhodes might want, maybe like another one-year deal to prove himself again before he hits the market when the cap explodes again in 2022. Maybe like a two- or three-year deal.

I have to imagine maybe from Rhodes' standpoint, he probably wants another one-year deal to bet on himself and make more money. But I think at this point, seeing with the cornerback market, just like the wider seer market really drying up at this point, I think all the options we talked about on the show are signed with other teams. The most logical fit again for them to replace Xavier Rhodes is probably

Xavier Rhodes himself and bringing him back on a short-term contract, unless you want to wait till the draft. Yeah, that's a, it's a tough spot for the cornerback market. It never really developed. You had a couple guys get some big contracts with Liam Jackson and Shaquille Griffin. But outside of that, Ronald Darby got $10 million. Patrick Peterson was on a one-year $10 million range.

I think Xavier Rhodes realistically is probably looking at one year, $8 million to $9 million, right in that range. I think Xavier Rhodes realistically is probably looking at one year, $8 to $9 million right in that range. And that's a good contract for him. And I think the Colts might be willing to pay that. But the tough part with signing one-year deals is you have to be on. Because if you were bad that year, then you're probably not getting signed. Or if you are, you're getting signed for significantly less. So Xavier Rhodes is 31 years old. I'm sure he'd like to do a one-year deal and bet on himself again. But there's also some benefits to taking that financial security of taking a two to three-year deal, knowing that you're going to probably retire as a cult in that situation, maybe take a little bit less money

on an annual basis, but you get a little bit more guaranteed money on the end. So say like a two year deal, that's no two year, $18 million, but you've got 12 million guaranteed is better than no a one year deal at $8 million. And then you're terrible and you only get $2 million next year. So that's really kind of what Xavier Rhodes needs to figure out, what him and his representation needs to figure out. What does he feel comfortable with? The rumors are that the Colts are really really interested in resigning him and that makes sense based on the lack of quality depth here at the quarterback position in free agency I mean there's still a couple guys that you can pop in and feel okay with, a bunch of young guys. But Xavier Rhodes knows the defense. He played well in it.

He'd thrive in it again, my guess is. And they'd have somebody there with Marvell Tell coming back that could pop in in a pinch. Xavier Rhodes seemed to, it felt like he went out every game for like a series. And the Colts could be able to have that guy that can grow and develop behind Xavier Rhodes. And that's one thing that I remember last year when the Xavier Rhodes signing initially happened, that you and the guys over from Locked On Vikings talked about is how much of a teacher Xavier Rhodes was and how willing he was to work with other players.

And I think that would just be a huge benefit to Marv Othell. It's one of the reasons why I wish Tell wouldn't have opted out this past season, because I thought he could have learned from Xavier Rhodes. But I think as a whole, it makes a lot of sense for the Colts and Xavier Rhodes to work out a deal, whether it's a one-year deal or a two-year deal. I just think it makes a lot of sense for them for both sides. Last point you're reporting today's podcast, Stephen, Frank Reich was on SiriusXM earlier today on

Monday, or on Wednesday, excuse me, talking about the course of Wednesday after it officially went through with the NFL's league year happening on St. Patrick's Day. I think from what Reich stood out from his interview the most was outside of the wins talk was about tight end George Bremmer of the Harold Bolton was listening to a live and he had a quote tweet about this. And I made sure to really bring this up because I think it's really intriguing what Reich's saying. Maybe it's dropping a little bit of breadcrumbs here as far as what the Colts next big move might be,

whether it be in frequency or the draft. George Bremmer mentioned that Reich said that the Colts are looking to add a playmaking tight end, even outside of Jack Doyle and Molly Cox. They gave a second round 10 or two last night. I have to think here, Steven, that you have one or two options. You're either going to draft someone like a Brevin Jordan or Pat Fryer move in the second round. But probably what's even more likely at this point with the way that the Eagles once again

have mismanaged the situation with the player, Zach Ertz is probably going to be released here soon, just with the way that Kyle Roseman for some reason is trying to get fake value right now via the media, and it's really not working for him. I have to imagine, just the collision course we've been on, even since Carson Wentz restarted in January and February, Stephen, that Zach Ertz is going to probably be an Annapolis full year soon. Howie Roseman's really, really mismanaged this entire offseason. Obviously, he got some value for Carson Wentz, but

as of earlier this week, the reports are that the Eagles were looking for a third or fourth round pick for Zach Ertz, who is coming off his worst statistical season, and he had some injuries. Now, whether that was because of Carson Wentz being terrible last year or the other Eagles offensive skill positions were terrible. So everybody could focus on Ertz. I mean, who's to say, but the fact that Philly, I think it was yesterday that there was an announcement made that they had allowed Zach Ertz agent to, to seek a trade.

And I said, you guys have been looking for a trade for him for like a month now. And the day before free agency officially opens, you're like, okay, we'll go ahead and, and see if you can work something out. Cause we can't. And I just thought it was interesting.

Then the report comes out today that the Eagles had actually given Zach Ertz's representation uh the go ahead to go seek out a trade like a week or two ago and they weren't able to get anything done it just seems like zach arts being cut makes a ton of sense for both the eagles and and for the colts i mean mean, he's the ideal signing. He's very familiar with Frank Reich's offense. He's able to go ahead and come in, and you'd feel really comfortable about that.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's cut within the next 24 to 48 hours, and that's who Frank Reich is targeting with his discussion about needing an upgrade at tight end in terms of a guy that can really be that receiving, be that F tight end. If they don't address it with Zach Ertz, Dan Arnold makes a lot of sense. And then in the draft, like you said, Brevin Jordan, Pat Furmuth, Tommy Trimble, all those guys really make a lot of sense for the Colts. I think one way or another, the Colts are going to bring in another high-quality tight end, and my bet would be Zach Ertz, and I don't think they're going to have to trade for him. I think the Eagles are going to finally just give up and cut him,

and then the Colts are going to be able to sign him pretty darn quickly because of, you know, Zachary's relationship with Frank Reich and Carson Wentz. Yeah, he kind of fits the billing for the Colts for the last couple years. The guys who are cut like a week or two in the free agency, Justin Houston in 2018 was cut, I think, a week after free agency started. It's for them to start trimming cap over in Kansas City when Mahomes was about to get paid.

2019, Xavier Rhodes was cut, I believe, three days after the league year started, and he eventually signed the Annapolis Colts on a one-year deal. I think Zach Ertzman will be the newest trend here three years in a row where the Colts sign a guy who's cut late into the process. But, Stephen, I appreciate the time we went over everything on today's show, talking through the Mack signing, also going over Andrew Brown waiver claim, and a lot of interesting stuff around the Colts at T.Y. Hilton, Xavier Rhodes, and the tight end position.

But if you want to go ahead and follow Stephen on Twitter, Colts fans, go ahead and do so over at Nice Read. Stephen, go listen to his podcast over on stampedeblue.com. Stephen, appreciate your time tonight. All right, thanks, Evan. Have a great one.